A RWBY Christmas
by KryHeart and Ardy
Summary: After the latest Grimm attacks Vale is down in the dumps this Christmas time. As a Huntress in training Ruby has the perfect plan to change some of that and with some prompting (and maybe a little manipulation) she's been able to drag her team along. Armed with chocolate and good cheer lets spread some positivity through our fair city! Crosspost from Ao3


Ruby loved Christmas.

Then again she loved all times of celebration, be it Halloween, birthdays, solstice and of course the Christmas holidays. Though Halloween was her personal favourite, a combination of her birthday with all the fun of Halloween. Any excuse that involved bringing people together, giving thanks, gifts or simply to watch the year's growth, she loved them all and this year was no exception.

Ruby buckles the belt with her emergency kit over her hips. It had been decided by their fearless and energetic leader that Team RWBY would be bringing some cheer and smiles to the children of Vale. The four of them donned different costumes, some required a little more encouragement than others: looking at you Blake and were ready to go. Her sister was dressed as the jolly red man himself or herself as it was. Yang even wore a long fake beard the colour of snow. Her eyes were full of laughter and wonder even when the pillow she had stuffed under her shirt kept dropping out.

Weiss had surprisingly not taken much to convince and wore her pretty gold dress and gold Dust powered lights with grace as she paraded around like a star. Ruby believed the only reason Weiss had accepted in the first place was because she was 'the star' of the show as it were. Still she allowed a faint smile and contributed to the cause which is all Ruby wanted. Blake had been the most difficult, her Faunus friend didn't especially celebrate Christmas where she was from. She hadn't wanted to do anything this year either but after constant prodding eventually given in and now donned a green elvish dress. A green headband sat at the top of her head both hiding her kitty ears and also making them look more like an elfs.

Ruby had her heart set on one particular costume and was so pleased to find it in her size she had almost ripped her dress when trying it on. The skirt of her dress was the same colour as her eyes, a bright pure silver that glittered like a starry night sky. Her heels, the one protest she had about the costume were also a sparkling silver white, the four inch heels lending her some extra height. On her head was a crown of white and red flower hair clips with a circlet of lights making it look more like a halo. Her dress cupped her bust and waist in a bright red with a dusting of faux snow while the skirt billowed out to her knees thanks to the petticoats worn underneath. This also helped keep her legs warm on the wintery night.

Ruby wore frosted stockings and two tiny bunches of silver bells attached to the back and heel of her shoes. The final touch was the pair of silver wings on her back. They were also lit up with white lights and patterned with snowflakes. Ruby smiled as she added the finishing touches to her makeup, Blake had shown her how to put on some simple eyeliner to make her eyes pop that little bit more. Her eyelids sparkled with the silver glitter eyeshadow and her normally pinked lips we're painted a cherry red.

Pleased the girls grabbed their baskets filled with chocolate coins and headed out to Vale's town centre. After the latest Grimm attack the city had been in a bit of a fearful state. Due to this some businesses were struggling and overall moral had dipped into the red. The city was safe but that didn't mean people felt that way. All missions and classes had been put on hold for the holiday in the hopes that the festivities would feel more peaceful. The afternoon sun glinted from the above the buildings, it would be dark soon enough but crowds still milled about. As the girls arrived Ruby spun on her heel, giving the team her signature smile.

"ALRIGHT TEAM RWBY! Time to get these frowns turned upside down. Yang, Weiss if you would take the market area, Blake you're stationed by the train station and surrounding shops. I'll be in the central park."

The sister pumped her fist with an almost manic grin. "This is gonna be awesome! Come on ice princess lets go bring _snow _cheer to those faces."

"That was a poor excuse for a pun." Weiss shook her head. "I thought you might have had some _Icer _ones at least for the holidays."

Challenged Yang only laughed loudly and grabbed the heiress. "Now you're getting into the swing of it. Hold on for _deer _life _ice Queen _we're about to _reign _cheer upon this town.

"Oh my Stars, what have I done." Weiss whined into her hands, about to ask Blake if she would switch with her when Yang started dragging her away.

"Not to worry Weiss, Christmas just has me feeling extra _Santa-mental. _" The resounding cry of outrage almost made Ruby feel sorry for her friend as she and Yang disappeared around the corner.

Blake gave Ruby a quiet goodbye before heading off to her area while Ruby milled for a moment just taking it in. Christmas in Vale. Lights decorated many of the surrounding buildings, she spotted a couple of blown up Santa figures and a few trees had also been decked out. The smell of gingerbread and sweet pastries lingered like an enticing scent, beckoning. Ruby nearly drooled at the smell of frosted cookies coming from a nearby bakery but shook her head. She had work to do! So without satisfying her sweet tooth she headed towards the park, her basket full of chocolate and had to remind herself several times on the way there that they weren't for her.

The park was surprisingly bare of people. The redhead had honestly expected more visitors to be around but other then the odd couple and dog walkers it was mostly empty. Still it didn't deter the huntress in training as she bounded down the pathway and towards anyone she spotted. Normally Ruby would avoid approaching strangers like the plague but this was Christmas and she had set out to bring a little cheer and by the Grimm was she going to do it!

Two hours were spent with Ruby going around offering 'Merry Christmases' and her chocolate to those she passed. Many returned the smiles and sentiments. Some ignored her, to which she only pulled tongues at them and mumbled humbugs. It was going very well in fact that Ruby had made her way to the other end of the park and her basket was only half empty. She debated doing another round or heading to a different area when a young cry spun her around.

A girl, no older than five sat on the cold ground sobbing. Her mother stood close by and was frantically searching through her handbag for something, looking completely frazzled and worn out. Both mother and daughter had curly blond hair, the child wearing a pretty pink dress with matching hair ribbons and a fluffy white coat which was now stained from mud and wet. The mother wore a brown suede coat and her head covered by a black beanie, a long black skirt and gloves.

Ruby hurried over to the pair and saw the child had fallen and scraped her knee. The wound wasn't overly deep but it did bleed and needed to be cleaned. The giant tears that ran down the little girl's face didn't appear to be stopping any time soon.

"Excuse me Ma'am, do you require any help?" The mother looked at Ruby, she appeared even more tired than the redhead had first thought. Dark bags pillowed under a pair of brown eyes.

"Oh no! It's okay, I'm sorry. I just c-can't find my band aids." When the girl on the floor continued to cry the mother cooed softly to her. "It's alright honey bee, momma will make it all better soon."

Seeing the desperation in the woman's eyes Ruby slipped her hand into the belt bag she always kept on her for times just like this. Inside was her Scroll, some Lein and a small first aid kit she carried with her. Without a word she knelt by the young girl and opened the little green bag.

"Hey there. I see you have a little booboo. I have something that will help!" Ruby kept her voice bright and cheerful while the girl's attention was pulled from her wound to the costume clad huntress in front of her. Matching brown eyes widened almost comically at her, her mouth opened wide as the pain seemed to vanish. "A-angel!"

Ruby chuckled and while maintaining eye contact opened her antiseptic wipes and began cleaning the wound. "Not quite but close. What's your name?"

The sting from the wound made the girl gasp but like a little soldier she held back her tears. "Sophie." The huntress chuckled when Sophie stuck her thumb in her mouth and removed a plaster. It had dogs peppered on it.

"That's a cute name, I'm going to give you this little bandaid now and you can't tell anyone this but…" Ruby paused for effect and loudly whispered to the child. "It's a magic band aid."

"MAGIC!" The child squealed and her mother who had been watching gave a wan smile.

"Yes little Sophie, magic." Ruby jazzed her hands. "When its on it takes away all the pain. Isn't that amazing?" The girl nodded her head repeatedly and watched with fascination as Ruby applied the little plaster to her knee. With her hand still on the scraped knee Ruby pulled up her Aura and let just a hint of it trail down her hand and healed the skin under it. "There we go, look at you! You were so brave! How do you feel?"

Sophie tested her knee, bending it before jumping up. "IT'S ALL BETTER! Thank you Miss Angel!" Ruby caught the little bundle as she gave the huntress a hug. Memories of Yang doing the same thing for a younger her making her smile.

"That's alright Sophie but I am not an Angel."

Confused the girl looked up at her. "Then what are you?"

"Well…" Ruby thought about it, the story her … her mother had once told her. It was one of the few things Ruby could remember about Summer Rose. Pushing back the slight sting of tears she gestured to one of the trees nearby. It had many colourful lights decorating it. "Do you know what they are called?"

"Err, Christmas lights?"

"Yes but they also have another name. They are called, Fairy lights."

Sophie's little mouth fell wide open much like her eyes. "Are you a Fairy?"

Chuckling the huntress nodded. "Yes, see my wings?" Ruby watched as the child cooed and awed at the fake wings lit up with sparkly lights.

"What does fairies do at Christmas?"

"Well I'll tell you, see fairies decorate trees so they light up the houses that Santa comes to visit. He's a very busy man and if he were to miss a house those children would be very sad, wouldn't they?" Sophie nodded as Ruby explained. "So Santa sent fairies to go around and light up every Christmas trees so he would be able to find all the good boys and girls to give them presents."

There was a quiet chuckle from the mother but her daughter didn't seem to notice. "That's why you find us everywhere, we light up the night sky with wishes and hopes."

"Does that mean if my house doesn't have a tree Santa won't come?" the little girl looked so sad. "What about other children who don't have trees?"

"That's a very good question." Ruby scrambled internally to find an answer when a familiar figure started towards them giving her the best idea. "You see, Santa has another helper for when that happens and here she comes right now." Ruby pointed out the gold clad Weiss, still wearing her costume but her smile was nowhere to be found. Ruby made wild gestures behind the little girl hoping Weiss would figure it.

"Ruby, are you ready to go. Santa is driving me crazy with all those puns." She said surprisingly softly and then glanced down at the little girl who was now openingly staring. "Hello?"

Taking over from her Ruby went to stand by her friend. "This is the Star. Sometimes she sits upon your tree and other times she floats in the sky. She lights up those homes who don't have a Christmas tree. Isn't she amazing." Ruby's grin was a little forced but Weiss played along, waving slightly to the child while Sophie appear appeased and waved back.

"So you both work for Santa?"

"Yes and now we must go." Ruby said ruffled the child's hair when she pouted. "Hey now we have a lot of work to do and Santa can be a pain in the butt if we leave him alone for too long."

"He gets awfully lonely and bored. A bored Santa might start playing pranks on us if we leave him for too long." Weiss added with a smirk.

The mother gave them both a grateful smile and took her daughter's hand. "Well it's been lovely meeting you both but we should also get going. Say goodbye Sophie."

"Oh here!" Ruby thrust out the basket and let the young girl pick out a treat. "It's been nice meeting you too. Merry christmas."

"Merry Christmas! Bye bye!" Mother and daughter cheered together before setting out into the night.

Ruby waved at their retreating forms a little melancholy. Mother and Daughter were hand in hand. Had she ever been like that with her mum? One day would she hold hands with her own child? A comforting shoulder brushed against her own as Ruby glanced back to Weiss.

"That was a nice thing you did for her Ruby. Come on, let's go home. We can gorge out on the remaining chocolate and make hot chocolate to go with them." Weiss held out her hand, seeing her teammate and more importantly friend need that little support.

Ruby didn't hesitate to grasp the older girl's hand and leaned ever so slightly into her side. "That sounds like the best idea I've heard all year. Oh and Weiss?" She waited for her friend to look back at her then gave the pale cheek a peck. "Merry Christmas."


End file.
